Project Profile

This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program will train biology and engineering students to learn from natural design – a process termed biological inspiration. In particular, trainees will discover principles that underlie... more »

This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program will train biology and engineering students to learn from natural design – a process termed biological inspiration. In particular, trainees will discover principles that underlie how organisms move in complex environments, and learn to use those principles as inspiration to design human-engineered systems. Four focus areas for research opportunities include the mechanics of systems that locomote, their control mechanisms, the structure and function of their materials, and their evolution. A three-stage training program integrates with the research focus and is facilitated by a new Berkeley center – CiBER – the Center for interdisciplinary Biological-inspiration in Education and Research. Stage 1offers a customized core curriculum to develop a common scientific language, and to discover opportunities to contribute to and benefit from bio- and bio-inspired motion systems. Trainees will participate in a new research-based teaching laboratory where teams of biology and engineering students work together to make original biomechanical discoveries. This experience transitions them into Stage 2 where they begin research rotations and international experiences at leading European institutes guided by a Bionics" network. In Stage 3 « less

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